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As the 1940 season began, the Cardinals were sputtering in the early going. Losers of their first three games and eight of their first 13, the runners-up to the Cincinnati Reds for the 1939 pennant were limping along a game and a half ahead of the miserable Boston Braves at the bottom of the standings. […]

Both teams managed 10 base hits, but the Bostons scored twice as many runs. Neither team scored for the first two innings. Boston sent only six batters to the plate in those innings. Pirates Fred Clarke and Jimmy Sebring singled in the first and second innings, respectively. The pitchers presented a rematch of Game Two […]

“His hearty ‘glad to see you,’ and the warm grasp of the hand were the same as of old,” wrote the Boston Globe reporter who shook hands with Charlie Bennett. His eyes “twinkled merrily” during the interview at the apartment of Kid Nichols on Tremont Street in Boston.1 But this was not the same Charlie […]

In 1889 the Louisville Colonels of the American Association were a woeful baseball team. Over the season, Louisville went 27-111-2, with a record-setting 26-game losing streak. The team churned through four managers – Dude Esterbrook (2-8), Jimmy “Chicken” Wolf (14-51), Dan Shannon (10-46-2), and Jack Chapman (1-6) – with equally dismal results. By July 27, […]

When it opened in 1928, Montreal’s De Lorimier Stadium was considered the preeminent ballpark of the minor leagues. Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis said it was even better than some big-league facilities.1 The luxurious ballpark was also heavily mortgaged, which was a relatively minor concern initially. Everything changed when the stock market crashed in October 1929. […]

Monday, September 29, was the last day of the American League’s 1902 season. The National League wrapped up its season with a Sunday doubleheader in St. Louis on October 5. There was only the one game in the AL played on the 29th. The last-place Baltimore Orioles hosted the Boston Americans, who were in third […]

“The Buccaneers turned impending defeat into a glorious victory snatched from the very jaws of disaster” gushed the Pittsburgh Press about the Pirates’ six-run ninth inning to beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-7, in the Windy City.1 The Pittsburgh Post called the Deadball Era offensive explosion a “sensational slugfest,”2 while sportswriter J.J. Alcock of Chicago Tribune […]

Owing to four rescheduled rainouts, the Terrapins and the Buf-Feds were playing their fifth doubleheader and 12th and 13th games against each other in nine days. Baltimore had taken seven of the first 11 with one tie, and the Buf-Feds were banged up and bruised. Buffalo manager Larry Schlafly might have done well to concede […]

On a gloomy afternoon, more than 3,000 fans settled down in American League Park.1 The forecast for June 28, 1902, called for rain. But clashing personalities, not weather, ended the game early. Little Napoleon The new Orioles had been a franchise only since 1901, when they finished three games over .500 but were still 13½ […]

With his pitchers falling by the wayside on a seemingly daily basis, Cleveland Blues manager Jimmy McAleer figured there couldn’t be any harm in asking. After injuries to his other pitchers forced McAleer to put Bill Hart on the pitching slab for the third time in five days on May 14, 1901, less than three […]

Fortunes turn fast in baseball. After Cleveland won Game One of the 1920 World Series at Ebbets Field, oddsmakers made the Indians 8-to-5 favorites to win the Series. Even after dropping Games Two and Three in Flatbush, the Indians were still the favorites, but at even money. Brooklyn would not go quietly. The Robins had […]

In the course of his career, Ted Williams hit 521 major-league home runs. More than 20 percent of them were game-winners.1 His first homer to win a game was in the ninth game of his rookie season of 1939, on May 4 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. His three-run homer in the top of the […]

Kicking off a string of unfortunate events for the 1942 Cincinnati Reds, an injury during May 24 pregame warmups shelved first baseman Frank McCormick with an ailing back. Hank Sauer, moving in from his usual outfield position, was “doing very well” as the perennial All-Star’s temporary fill-in before being sidelined himself with a sprained ankle […]

Boston Red Sox rookie Ted Williams was 20 years old when he first played in a game at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium. It quickly became his favorite ballpark in which to hit. Williams — “The Kid” — had won the Triple Crown in the American Association in 1938, with 43 home runs among his contributions to […]

With two weeks left in the season, the Senators were playing their last scheduled home game at Griffith Stadium. This oddity of the calendar was thanks to owner Clark Griffith, who had rented out the stadium to the NFL’s Washington Redskins for the rest of September.1 Most years, fans might not have minded missing out […]

Stan Wasiak’s nearly five-decade bus ride in professional baseball reached its final stop on August 28, 1986. Wasiak, known as “the King of the Minors,” spent a record-setting 37 consecutive years as a minor-league manager in cities from Valdosta, Georgia, to Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Appleton, Wisconsin, to El Paso, Texas. Working at every level […]

“The opening night against the Yankees was one of the most electrifying nights I’ve spent in baseball. The excitement was everywhere. It was incredible to see that place filled. It was hard not to look up and be just as awed as any fan.”1 That was Rusty Staub in 1985, 20 years after professional baseball’s […]

If the fates had been kinder to George “Kiddo” Davis, he would have had the opportunity to display his skills in five World Series during his eight major-league seasons. In two Series with the New York Giants, 1933 and 1936, the center fielder complemented his outstanding defensive work with 8 hits in 21 at-bats, a […]

With two major leaguers, a third brother, Charles, who coached the Villanova University baseball team for more than two decades, and a fourth, Hugh, who coached the Hazleton High School basketball team to three state titles, the McGeehan family of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, built a towering sports legacy in the first third of the 20th […]

A cursory glance at Jimmy Williams’ record does not capture his colorful 20-year path through minor- and major-league play. His final statistics reflect a slightly above-average player — but his solid career was speckled with historic participation and achievements, including one possibly unbreakable record. James Thomas Williams was born on December 20, 1876, in St. […]

It was the kind of trade that barely got noticed. A few lines buried within the stories of the daily newspaper and perhaps mentioned in the “transactions” column in the back of the sports section. During the season it might have been mentioned on the local sportscast, with some statistics mixed in. But the news […]

Jimmy Johnston piled up record-setting stolen-base numbers in the minors, played every outfield and infield position, and contributed to the first two Brooklyn World Series teams. In 1920 he battled brother Doc Johnston of Cleveland as part of the first World Series sibling rivalry.1 Rooted in Tennessee, Johnston’s ancestors farmed, prayed, and played baseball. His […]

University of Tennessee football and baseball star Hunter “Dodo” Lane darted in and out of professional ball in less than 24 months, yet still ascended to the major leagues. The infielder became a “one-hit wonder” with a 1-for-15 performance for the 1924 Boston Braves, before opening a successful politically-involved law practice in the Memphis area. […]

Fourteen seasons. That’s all it took for Scranton-Dunmore Stadium to go from a community’s shiny new plaything to, literally, a pile of parts waiting to be trucked out of town. Between 1940 and 1953, the people of Scranton, Pennsylvania – and of Dunmore, a small neighboring community – got to see Ted Williams, Satchel Paige, […]